BREAKING: Twins Sign First Baseman Josh Bell to One-Year Deal

[bunsen82]

3 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

1 year, 7 million with a mutual option for 2027.

I feel like we overpaid slightly,  but it does give us more options now for trade and relievers.  $13 million remaining.  

[Vanimal46]

The sad thing is we haven’t developed a single 1B prospect in 4 years so we need to keep going back to this type of signing. 

This is the Falvey special. Slow, slightly above average bat with no defensive ability. 

[DJL44]

24 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

This doesn't excite me, but I can't imagine there was going to be any first baseman signings that was going to be a boon to the Twins sprint speed.

And I care about the arm strength of a first baseman slightly more than I care about his cribbage skills.

It just shows what a poor athlete he is. He has the range of a lilac bush.

[Russ]

The Twins did what?  This is a positive.  Would have liked him a few years earlier.  In 2025 a better hitter lefthanded with 3x more at bats. Good start, but a long way to go.

[ziggy]

20 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

Typical Falvey move. Spend money to spend money. Make sure to add nothing while spending it, hope for career years out of the blue.

This is exactly what shopping at Dollar General yields instead of shopping at Dior.

[chpettit19]

Not a whole lot to say about this one. Far prefer his bat to Clemens, but he's yet another DH on this team. For his career he's been pretty balanced between his numbers against lefties and righties, but last year he was atrocious against lefties. The hope has to be that he bounces back from that as he'll start every day against them while he's healthy and with the Twins.

At this point it's an unsurprising "meh" of a deal. He doesn't significantly improve their odds of even competing in the central, but maybe it's a good sign that they went out and got someone before February. Hopefully more moves to come.

[DJL44]

9 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

1 year, 7 million with a mutual option for 2027.

They gave him a raise?! Unbelievable. He made $6M, had a bad season and Boras got him a raise.

[TNtwins85]

53 minutes ago, Nashvilletwin said:

You just can’t make this up.  Just what we need - a 33 year old on the last legs of his career blocking critical innings and ABs from our younger players.

This is a great signing. Our win projection in ‘26 just skyrocketed to 72 from 71. lol. 

Are we honestly supposed to get emotionally invested as a fan in another one year rental retread player?  Haven’t we seen enough of this?

I’m done blaming Falvey. He is who he is and you can’t blame him for trying to save his career, let alone his job.  Moves like this are the fault of the Nephew.

What a clown show this franchise is. 

What prospect at 1B is he blocking? 

[jmlease1]

4 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

I feel like we overpaid slightly,  but it does give us more options now for trade and relievers.  $13 million remaining.  

Honestly if he's able to hit LHP back to career levels then it shouldn't be an overpay. I'm a little nervous about how ugly his numbers from the right side were last season, but hopefully that more small sample size than anything.

Of course, signing Bell really makes me want to move on from Larnach...

[chpettit19]

Just now, DJL44 said:

They gave him a raise?! Unbelievable. He made $6M, had a bad season and Boras got him a raise.

Boras doing Boras things. I assume the option was added as a way to spread out the money. I can't imagine either side has any plans to actually reunite for 2027, but it gave the Twins a way to pay him part now and part in 2027 so Boras demanded the total be a little higher for that manipulation by the Twins.

[Danchat]

I'm surprised it cost that much for Bell, given he didn't hit that well for a 1B/DH type. He's better than the likes of Clemens and Julien, but he's a pure placeholder. Falvey is intent on not moving any of his prospects to 1B, so I guess he isn't blocking anyone technically.

[TNtwins85]

1 minute ago, ziggy said:

This is exactly what shopping at Dollar General yields instead of shopping at Dior.

Well, the Twins paid that guy for awhile too. He talked a big game and turned in 5.1WAR over 2.5 seasons for the bargain price of $100M. That worked out great as well. Goes to show that paying for any FA usually isn’t worth the price. Whether it be $7M or $100M. Paying for a players declining years almost never works out well. You could run a lineup of Josh Bells out every game and be happy that your payroll is $182M. How will that team perform???? Yet it would make some happy that their payroll is $182M!

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Similar to the Carlos Santana signing in 2024 - won't overwhelm anyone but he's 'someone' and beats the alternative of putting Kody Clemens at 1B on a daily basis.

Now add 2-3 arms to the bullpen and we might see a small sliver of optimism.

[Chembry]

To me, the most encouraging news is that the Twins didn't wait out the market.  Years past they waited out the market until spring training and signed a leftover.  Recent signings of Carlos Santana, Ty France, Harrison Bader, Danny Coulombe were all within a week or so of spring training.

Seems like they targeted Bell and went out and signed him.  We can question who they targeted and why, but I am happy they actually being proactive.  Now lets sign a few arms.  

[TNtwins85]

18 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Honestly if he's able to hit LHP back to career levels then it shouldn't be an overpay. I'm a little nervous about how ugly his numbers from the right side were last season, but hopefully that more small sample size than anything.

Of course, signing Bell really makes me want to move on from Larnach...

Exactly, makes me wonder what their plans are for Larnach, Wallner, Roden, Martin, Outman, Clemons, Julien, Gasper, etc etc etc. maybe they can package them all together in a trade to get a Christmas present for the new minority owners!

[bunsen82]

21 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Boras doing Boras things. I assume the option was added as a way to spread out the money. I can't imagine either side has any plans to actually reunite for 2027, but it gave the Twins a way to pay him part now and part in 2027 so Boras demanded the total be a little higher for that manipulation by the Twins.

$5.75 million salary and a $1.25 million buyout.  Being a mutual option makes it highly doubtful we do the option.  But if he is traded, we don't have to pay the buyout either.  In that fact the salary is about where I expected it to be.  

[IndianaTwin]

I find it interesting that Falvey gets blasted because "he's not going to make any moves until January or February" and then when he does, he gets blasted for it not being a good enough move. It seems like people just want to rip on Falvey.

I see it as a pretty significant floor move. It hopefully gets away from Clemens as the primary 1B. Maybe he's streaky WITHIN a season, but his OPS+ has been 108, 109, 111, 142, 82, 124, 127, 101, 100, 110. The high outlier was juiced-ball 2019. The low outlier was Covid-shortened 2020.

I would have liked O'Hearn, but I'm not overly concerned that they didn't get a stud here. If they are going to be successful offensively in 2026, it's going to be because Lewis and Wallner rebounded, Keaschall maintained over a long season and Lee improved to average, etc. It's not going to be because the 1B is O'Hearn vs. Bell.

One of the primary reasons I see it as a positive and that I haven't seen mentioned yet is that it's a tangible sign of addition. It may or may not be the addition people were clamoring for, but it's an addition. Hopefully this also communicates to Coulombe and his agent (or dare I even hope for Luke Weaver?) that the Twins are indeed not dumping Lopez/Ryan/Buxton and are going to be higher than the $90M some have been projecting.

 

(EDIT to add: It also just got better in terms of money available for relievers. It's $5.5M for this year plus $250k bonus and $1.25M in a mutual option that gets paid later.) 

[Chembry]

41 minutes ago, TNtwins85 said:

Exactly, makes me wonder what their plans are for Larnach, Wallner, Roden, Martin, Outman, Clemons, Julien, Gasper, etc etc etc. maybe they can package them all together in a trade to get a Christmas present for the new minority owners!

My current thinking is that we trade either Wallner or Larnach.  We can't go into the season with both on the roster.  Hopefully Outman isn't anywhere near the roster. 

[bunsen82]

2 minutes ago, Chembry said:

To me, the most encouraging news is that the Twins didn't wait out the market.  Years past they waited out the market until spring training and signed a leftover.  Recent signings of Carlos Santana, Ty France, Harrison Bader, Danny Coulombe were all within a week or so of spring training.

Seems like they targeted Bell and went out and signed him.  We can question who they targeted and why, but I am happy they actually being proactive.  Now lets sign a few arms.  

I think Boras got nervous,  with the Baltimore situation.  It decreased the landing spots.     

[bean5302]

Josh Bell = 0.1 WAR last year and -0.1 WAR the year before. Definition of replacement level.

[CRF]

...and the Rent-A-First Baseman continues. 

[Chembry]

Just now, Chembry said:

My current thinking is that we trade either Wallner or Larnach.  We can't go into the season with both on the roster.  Hopefully Outman isn't anywhere near the roster.  Julien is in the same boat.  My guess is he is either traded or DFA'd.  Don't know about Gasper...I believe he still has options

 

[hlsballer318]

I like that they added a 1B option well before spring training. Maybe this will breed competition and make the whole team better.

[bunsen82]

1 minute ago, bean5302 said:

Josh Bell = 0.1 WAR last year and -0.1 WAR the year before. Definition of replacement level.

He was a 128 OPS+ in the 2nd half.   His 1st half and 2nd half were drastically different.  He was dragged down by a horrible April.  .137/.228/.275.   

[tony&rodney]

The Twins chose Josh Bell over Bo Bichette. No, I never once believed the Twins were even interested in Bichette .... at any price. He is not their type of player. My reasoning?

The Twins sat at @$95M. The word recently was that the Twins would spend to $110-115M. They are carrying two contracts that some teams would gladly take, Bailey Ober at around $5M and Trevor Larnach at around $4M. They are going to pay Josh Bell $7M. Add it up and there was room for a Bo Bichette contract, albeit the length would never be an option for the franchise as it is currently configured. 

Bell joins Wallner, Larnach, Julien, and Keaschall as players who fit best at DH. Keaschall is young, athletic, and has promise to be average with a glove. The others? Julien is the next best fielder among that group, which will cause jaws to drop and disagreement. I'll let others defend the degrees of ineptitude among the DH types.

The signing of Josh Bell removes any last hint of doubt in one's mind that the current front office intends to field either a competitive team or one that creates excitement. It also removes once and for all the idea that it is the tight budget and the Pohlad's parsimony that restricts what type of roster the Twins field. Without the players from the Terry Ryan/Bill Smith regime, the Twins have been cratering.

There is still hope if one can be hopeful. Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Kaelen Culpepper, and Luke Keaschall all have to perform at a high level. Pitchers like Taj Bradley, Mick Abel, Andrew Morris, David Festa, Zebulon Matthews, Marco Raya, and Connor Prielipp need to reach their potential. The Twins could also make a series of blockbuster trades to change the dynamic of the roster. That is the hope.

Josh Bell may be the best signing for the clubhouse as someone mentioned but he will have to reach the levels of the combined efforts of Harrison Bader, Ty France, and Danny Coulombe for the Twins to win 72 games in 2026. Apparently that is the goal. 

[TNtwins85]

4 minutes ago, Chembry said:

My current thinking is that we trade either Wallner or Larnach.  We can't go into the season with both on the roster.  Hopefully Outmans isn't anywhere near the roster. 

Yeah, but for what? What do you get for Larnach? An rookie ball relief pitcher?

[DJL44]

4 minutes ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

Similar to the Carlos Santana signing in 2024 - won't overwhelm anyone but he's 'someone' and beats the alternative of putting Kody Clemens at 1B on a daily basis.

Now add 2-3 arms to the bullpen and we might see a small sliver of optimism.

I'm not sure it does beat using Kody Clemens as the first baseman. Clemens is the better fielder. It keeps Julien from getting playing time as the backup but it doesn't really improve the situation at first base at all. Raises the floor but offers no ceiling. At a $7M cost it means one less $3M free agent arm for the bullpen. Moves the win total from 70 to 71.

5 minutes ago, Chembry said:

To me, the most encouraging news is that the Twins didn't wait out the market.  Years past they waited out the market until spring training and signed a leftover. 

All moving early did was cost them $4M. You can get leftovers as good as Bell at the end of January for less money.

Move early on good players, wait out the market on marginal players. It might only be "an extra $3M" but if you do that a few times you're spending $12M extra on bad players that you could have spent on one good player instead.

[Major League Ready]

53 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

Give Bell a little more credit.  His 2nd half stats were really good - The first half not so much.   He is known to be a bit of a streaker hitter.  His best seasons were 2022 and 2021.  

Thanks for pointing out his 2nd half.  Was this a result of the adjustments he made? IDK but at least it gives us some hope.  Just looking at his 2023-2025 does not inspire confidence.  However, he produced a wRC+ of 139 the 2nd half of 2025.   It's a smart signing if he can replicate the results of those adjustments in 2026.  

[PDX Twin]

1 hour ago, bunsen82 said:

He is known to be a bit of a streaker hitter.

He plays naked? That might fill some seats (or not).

[Woof Bronzer]

8 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

He was a 128 OPS+ in the 2nd half.   His 1st half and 2nd half were drastically different.  He was dragged down by a horrible April.  .137/.228/.275.   

Bad news, April counts as much as September.